Remember The Simpsons Funday Football tie-in? Sony’s new NHL deal could see more animated heroes on ice

• Sony has entered a multi-year global technology partnership with the NHL
• This could mean more real-time, animated simulcasts of the game are on the horizon
• Sony's Beyond Sports, Hawk-Eye setups, and cameras will still be used at the arenas

If you've ever dreamed of seeing your hockey heroes playing alongside the biggest animated stars then Sony's new deal with the NHL might get you excited.

Sony has already expanded into the professional sports world via its Beyond Sports brand, which is key to real-time data processing and the ability to take all that action and translate it into something else.

Its partnership with the NFL (National Football League) led to the airing of the The Simpsons Funday Football on Disney+ and ESPN last year, and now the NHL could be next for that kind of treatment.

The NHL already uses Sony's Hawk-Eye Technology system – a combination of cameras above the ice and wearable sensors on players – but this new deal will expand on that, while continuing the use of Sony cameras for both still photography and video.

Most excitingly, it promises to broaden the role that Beyond Sports could play in changing how fans of any age can experience a hockey game.

If real-time animated simulcasts are on the horizon as part of this deal, it won't be the first time the NHL and Sony have collaborated on such a venture.

In 2023, the NHL Big City Greens Classic was produced using Beyond Sports technology and that system, along with the Hawk-Eye setup, is now installed in all 32 arenas.

As with other animated broadcasts, the goal is to expand the appeal and attract a wider audience – one that might be different from or adjacent to those attending the game in person.

Speaking to TechRadar, David Lehanski, Executive Vice President of Business Development and Innovation at the NHL, said that the talks began with a question about how the league can reach more fans.

Now, though, “We're going to eventually get to a point where we allow the fan to customize so they can have some role in determining what the environment looks like. And then another step after that might be to even give the fans an ability to interact with the content,” Lehanski continued.

Those comments echo back to TechRadar’s conversation with Sander Schouten, Managing Director and Co-Founder at Beyond Sports last year.

Schouten then hinted that more environments could come depending on the partner, and that we could see more interactive streams. He also highlighted the sheer volume of data being generated and its rapid pace, suggesting that the runway is wide open for various implementations.

That could mean multiple streams or different ways of accessing the action – be it on a traditional TV, through streaming, or even in a virtual reality environment. The latter is something the NHL has already explored, both for analysts and for players.

For both Sony and the NHL, this is an exciting endeavor – a formalized partnership built on technology already being used in games. It should open the door to more robust interactions and increased investment, enhancing the game experience whether you’re in the stands or watching from home.

While neither Sony nor the NHL would comment on future partners for real-time animated moments, I am hopeful we might see a return of The Simpsons – not for football, but for hockey.

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